Plans to build an extra 300 pontoons at Hafan Pwllheli marina were approved in principal by Gwynedd council's executive committee a fortnight ago. But last week the full council overwhelmingly rejected the proposals.

Last night businessman Jonathan Williams-Ellis, who runs a 10-pin bowling and go-karting centre near the Gwynedd town, blamed councillors from outside the area for dramatically overturning the council's own plans.

Mr Williams-Ellis, who employs around 50 people at Glasfryn Parc, said: "I am very worried that it has been lost. "Nobody was expecting it. I thought it would go through.

"I think the implication for jobs in the area is bleak. There are so many people leaving.

"I just found it amazing that the fate of Pwllheli has been left to councillors outside of Pwllheli," he added.